August 28, (THEWILL) – The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on President Bola Tinubu to authorize the setting up of an Education Trust Fund of not less than N10 billion to fund the education of children left behind by the military operatives killed in Zungeru-Kagara, Niger State, while on counter-terrorism combat operations.
HURIWA said a specially constituted three-member board of Trustees, drawn from a credible list of statesmen/women, including one serving Supreme Court Justice, a Director in the Ministry of Defence and a serving military General, should be set up by legislation from the National Assembly to administer the Special scholarship scheme for children of departed heroes in the military.
This was made known through a statement on Monday, by the National Co-ordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.
The Civil Rights Advocacy Group said the nation has yet to set up a structured system of enduring compensations for families of departed operatives of the military killed in the line duty, especially during wars or counter-terror/insurgency missions.
HURIWA emphasised that, as the biggest black democracy in the world, Nigeria must work out a credible but structured platform for rewarding the heroic contributions of military combatants killed in the line of duty while defending the country’s national security. HURIWA sees this as the surest way to motivate those who still give their best and are ready to make supreme sacrifices for the national security of Nigeria.
The Rights group said the current practice of simply organising media-publicised shows by way of burial ceremonies whereby families are condoled verbally, few cash donated to each bereaved family but then left to substantially sort themselves out in the absence of their breadwinners, is grossly unfair.
HURIWA said the nation must ensure that children, whom the nation deprived of their parents, although inadvertently but definitely in the line of duty, are not abandoned to a cruel fate, particularly since, by most cultural practices, widows are not adequately protected in the area of inheritance rights and privileges.
HURIWA recalled that when the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, went to commiserate with the families of the deceased crew members of the crashed MI-171E in Port Harcourt last week, he stated that the loss was a major setback for the NAF, which would take the service some time to get over.
According to the group, the service chief went on to assure the families that the NAF would, however, never abandon them but would always stand by them till the end, assuring them that their sacrifices would not be in vain as the NAF family, as well as all Nigerians, would forever remember them for giving their lives for the survival of the nation.
HURIWA citing a press release by the Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, which stated that the Chief of Air Staff “expressed his condolences to the Unit and appreciated them for their commitment and efforts in the ongoing joint military operations in the Niger Delta.”
HURIWA, however, said mere verbal condolences for these bereaved families are not enough because the military combatants killed were the sole breadwinners of their immediate families, comprising of very young, vulnerable children and widows, who should be adequately cared for by the nation for whom their fathers and husbands made supreme sacrifices.
“Establishing at least N10 billion Education Endowment Fund to benefit these children left by their fathers will be somehow a befitting way of rewarding their departed fathers and our heroes for their heroism,” it stated.
